i want to bring in arwa damon in benghazi. she's on the phone. and cnn foreign affairs reporter elise labott at the state department. arwa, first to you. you've been talking to libyan officials. what's the latest on what you're hearing about whether this attack was pre-planned or not? >> reporter: well, we're actually hearing different accounts as to whether or not that may be the fact. the country's head of the general national congress, effectively the nation's president saying that he does believe this is a pre-planned attack or rather was a pre-planned attack carried out by extremist groups possibly affiliated with or sympathetic to al qaeda. other government officials say as of now they have no indication whatsoever that this was a pre-planned attack. numerous eyewitnesses have been telling us that while the attack was taking place -- extremist militias that does in fact operate in this area with a fair degree of impunity, something that's incredibly troubling not just to libyan government but clearly now to international governments as well